Dork
by Cupe
Summary: Vexen should have known trouble was brewing when he saw what the cat had dragged in. Or rather, whom had dragged that cat in...


_**(Author's Note: Written for the Little Things contest at Write-Kingdomhearts on DA using the prompt "Kitty" and the character choices of Zexion, Vexen and Xemnas. Enjoy!)**_

**Dork**

When Vexen first sees the kitten all he sees is a scrawny lump of thin fur and bones that is currently rubbing germs all over the clean surfaces in his laboratory. He twitches slightly as it rolls onto its back, leaving a small dusting of once white hairs on the polished metal. For several long moments he watches and silently agonises, the half of his brain not occupied with thoughts of bleach and contamination wonder how the feline got there in the first place. Cats weren't exactly commonplace in The World That Never Was. Nor was any other sort of animal, domesticated or otherwise. It was debatable whether such creatures could even survive, after all, they were had a tangible existance, unlike Nobodies...

His unspoken questions are answered when Zexion appears, the dirt smeared on his face and shirt making it very obvious who brought the cat here (though from where Vexen was still dying to know. His adoptive son was as much of a clean freak as himself and he wondered whether he hadn't noticed the filth or simply didn't care...). The little Schemer petted the small animal with a tenderness Vexen found quite disconcerting. Zexion was the sort of person who wore a smirk like other people wore underwear. A necessity, always.

Unless one was in the shower, of course.

Vexen silently watched this unfold, like some strange avant garde film, too contemporary and against the norm yet strangely beautiful. The boy coaxed the kitten into letting him bathe it, washing away dirt from who knew where, then pat and gently rub it dry until its white fur stood on end giving it the look of a pompom. It was all quite ridiculous, really.

Zexion didn't notice Vexen stood in the doorway until after he had fed the kitten, looking up and jumping slightly, startled to see the blond there, "How long have you been there?" He asked after a pause, watching him carefully. He wasn't quite embarrassed, holding up a façade of indifference as if he hadn't been snuggling a baby animal complete with nonsense sounds that would give Xemnas a twitch strong enough to blind him were he to witness it. He was hoping Vexen hadn't seen, though they both knew he had.

"Long enough, Ienzo." The Chilly Academic approached, his boots clicking neatly on the polished floor and he gently slid his fingers into the boy's hair, not unlike how Zexion had been doing to the cat only moments before, "Where did you get it?"

"I found it on my mission..." He shrugged, nonchalant, acting as if he did this every day.

"This is no place for a kitten..." Vexen gently told him, hoping the hand in his hair would make the Schemer more docile. No such luck.

"Neither are the dirty streets of a large city." He replied, blue eyes narrowing into a scowl that was positively frightening under the bright artificial lights that cast dark shadows beneath Zexion's sharper features and increased his pale skin tenfold.

"Ienzo..." The wearied voice of a parent, one Vexen rarely had to use and so hated to do so...

"I'm not abandoning it."

"I didn't say-"

"You implied it!" Zexion pulled his head away from those cold fingers, turning a glare on Vexen that was significantly icier than any the latter could conjure, "This is no place for us either, but we are surviving as well as can be expected. I am _not_ throwing it away." Vexen opened his mouth to protest but was cut off, "You didn't abandon me." He levelled his gaze on Vexen's, no longer glaring, just challenging. Daring the Academic to say the unthinkable.

Vexen did so hate it when Zexion turned these infernal games upon him. Rarely was it worth continuing as they both knew that Vexen would neither indulge the tricks nor condone the use of them. He knew the boy too well to fall for them and would not rise to it no matter how badly his temper had been stoked.

The Cloaked Schemer was still watching, waiting, those blue eyes scrutinising him for flickers of weakness. Vexen deeply sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, "No. No I did not." He looked back at the boy, reaching out a hand and smiling faintly when he sulkily allowed himself to be drawn close, wrapping an arm loosely around the taller male.

"We'll have to make sure The Superior doesn't see it." He said at length, a corner of his lips quirking into something that was neither smirk nor smile but simply meant that yes, Zexion had won, but Vexen didn't care as long as the boy was as happy as a being with no heart could be. He knew that once Xemnas found out, and he inevitably would, arguing against him would be difficult but it would be worth it.

Besides, Zexion had been a well-matched opponent for any oral skirmish even before losing his heart, a fact Xemnas well knew after several near humiliations as Xehanort.

Despite this, The Superior did indeed protest, arguing that it was unhygienic and nothing more than a distraction from their work and besides, what would a Nobody want with a pet? It wasn't as if they could love them...

Caring for and loving were quite different things, Zexion had argued, smirking when the newly named Dawkins (known as 'Dork' or some variation thereof, a nickname coined by Xigbar to no one's surprise) hissed at Xemnas, apparently aware that the man was threatening his spot on a comfy bed and favourite hobby of blending in with the white floors in order to trip the less observant of their number. Really, he took after Zexion, Vexen had laughed, then wondered aloud when the cat had taken on the status of a demi-child and how he and Zexion had become parents (as he had wondered to Aeleus way back when they had first met Ienzo. History was funny like that).

Eventually Xemnas left, turning on his heel in a flurry of black leather, the harsh clack of his boot heels on the floor not fading for a long while. Zexion turned to give Vexen a victorious smirk, picking the little cat into his arms, not caring that his coat would pick up white fur, "I told you."

"Indeed you did." He agreed, letting the boy have his moment.

In Zexion's arms Dawkins purred, seeming to be entertaining a little smirk of his own.

"Kids." Vexen muttered, rolling his eyes.

_**(Post Script: Dork is named after Richard Dawkins a well-known scientist and the author of several books including 'The Blind Watchmaker' and 'The God Delusion', both of which I highly recommend.)**_


End file.
